{"id":402,"date":"2018-10-17T10:33:15","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T10:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2018\/10\/17\/ls-command-syntax-for-files-sorting-by-size-in-linux\/"},"modified":"2018-10-17T10:33:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T10:33:15","slug":"ls-command-syntax-for-files-sorting-by-size-in-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2018\/10\/17\/ls-command-syntax-for-files-sorting-by-size-in-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"ls Command Syntax for Files Sorting by Size in Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ls<\/p>\n

If you are new user in Linux world, the ls command is most popular and very useful command for listing the content of directories.<\/p>\n

In this article, we will explain how to use ls sort option to list directory content by size.<\/p>\n

1) List content details of directory upon size sorting<\/h2>\n

To list a content of a specific directory with size sorting, we will use -lS options with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -lS \/run
\noutput
\ntotal 24
\n-rw-rw-r–. 1 root utmp 2304 Sep 8 14:58 utmp
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 16 root root 400 Aug 21 13:18 systemd
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 7 root root 160 Aug 26 14:59 udev
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 100 Aug 21 13:18 initramfs
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 100 Sep 8 03:31 lock
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 100 Aug 21 13:18 NetworkManager
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 log
\ndrwx–x–x. 3 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 sudo
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 tmpfiles.d
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 tuned
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 60 Sep 7 23:11 user
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 console
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
\ndrwxr-x—. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 mount
\n…….. <\/p>\n

To list with file size, we will use -s option with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -s
\noutput
\ntotal 1316
\n 4 anaconda-ks.cfg 4 Downloads 180 index.html 0 smart.docx
\n 4 apache2 4 echo.txt 4 nano.txt 0 smart.txt
\n 4 cat.txt 0 file.txt 4 original-ks.cfg 0 test.txt <\/p>\n

2) List content of directory with size reverse sorting<\/h2>\n

To list the content of a specific directory with size reverse sorting, we will use -lSr options with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -lSr \/run
\noutput
\ntotal 24
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 xtables.lock
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 ebtables.lock
\n———-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 cron.reboot
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 3 Aug 21 13:18 syslogd.pid
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 sshd.pid
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Sep 9 08:17 dhclient-eth0.pid
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 crond.pid
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 setrans
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 sepermit
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 plymouth
\ndrwxrwxr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 netreport
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 mount
\ndrwxr-x—. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
\n…….. <\/p>\n

3) Sort output and print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 48M 1G)<\/h2>\n

to sort output and print sizes in human readable format, we will use -h option with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -lSh
\noutput
\ntotal 1.3M
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 1.1M Aug 26 15:45 GeoIP-1.5.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 177K Aug 26 15:29 index.html
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 13:32 apache2
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 13:31 Desktop
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 13:32 Documents
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 13:32 Downloads
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 13:32 Pictures
\n……. <\/p>\n

Also, we can print sizes in human readable format for specific extention.<\/p>\n

ls -l -S -h *.mp3
\nls -l -S -h ~\/Downloads\/*.mp4 | more<\/p>\n

4) List in alphabetical sorting<\/h2>\n

To list a content of a specific directory with alphabetical sorting, we will use ls command only without option, because alphabetical sorting is the default.<\/p>\n

$ ls
\noutput
\nanaconda-ks.cfg Desktop echo.txt index.html Pictures smart.txt
\napache2 Documents f.txt nano.txt printf.txt vim.txt cat.txt
\nDownloads GeoIP-1.5.0-11.el7.x86_64.rpm original-ks.cfg smart.docx vi.txt <\/p>\n

To list a content of a specific directory with details, add the path of the directory.<\/p>\n

$ ls -l \/run
\noutput
\ntotal 24
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 console
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 crond.pid
\n———-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 cron.reboot
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Sep 9 08:17 dhclient-eth0.pid
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 ebtables.lock
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
\ndrwxr-x—. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
\n………. <\/p>\n

5) List in alphabetical reverse sorting<\/h2>\n

To list a content of a specific directory with details upon alphabetical reverse sorting, we will use -lr options with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -lr \/run
\noutput
\ntotal 24
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 xtables.lock
\n-rw-rw-r–. 1 root utmp 2304 Sep 8 14:58 utmp
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 60 Sep 7 23:11 user
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 7 root root 160 Aug 26 14:59 udev
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 tuned
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 tmpfiles.d
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 16 root root 400 Aug 21 13:18 systemd
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 3 Aug 21 13:18 syslogd.pid
\ndrwx–x–x. 3 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 sudo
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 sshd.pid
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 setrans
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 sepermit
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 plymouth
\n……. <\/p>\n

6) List hidden content of directory in alphabetical sorting<\/h2>\n

To list hidden contents of specific directory, we will use -a or –all options with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -a \/etc
\n output
\n . default gss logrotate.d pm rsyslog.conf sysctl.d
\n .. depmod.d host.conf machine-id polkit-1 rsyslog.d systemd
\n adjtime dhcp hostname magic popt.d rwtab system-release
\n aliases DIR_COLORS hosts makedumpfile.conf.sample postfix rwtab.d system-release-cpe
\n …….. <\/p>\n

7) List content of directory in alphabetical sorting<\/h2>\n

To list a content of specific directory with details, such as the file permissions, number of links, owner\u2019s name and group owner, file size, time of last modification and the file\/directory name,we will use -l option with ls command.<\/p>\n

$ ls -l \/run
\noutput
\ntotal 24
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 auditd.pid
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 console
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Aug 21 13:18 crond.pid
\n———-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 cron.reboot
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 dbus
\n-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 4 Sep 8 12:41 dhclient-eth0.pid
\n-rw——-. 1 root root 0 Aug 21 13:18 ebtables.lock
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 faillock
\ndrwxr-x—. 2 root root 40 Aug 21 13:18 firewalld
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 100 Aug 21 13:18 initramfs
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 100 Sep 8 03:31 lock
\ndrwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 60 Aug 21 13:18 log
\n…….. <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading my article and please leave your comments.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/h3>\n